Edwin Gurecky was a
private first class in the U.S. Army. He was inducted into the Army on
July 2, 1947 in Dallas, Texas. After completing training, he was assigned to the 38th Infantry
Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was transported, along with his unit, to Camp
Kilmer,
which was a staging area for troops headed overseas, and an installation of the
New York Port of Embarkation, operated by the Army Transportation Corps, and located in Stelton, New
Jersey. Edwin's destination was Europe, and the purpose may have been occupation duty in Germany.

In 1949 border
skirmishes occurred between North and South Korea. On June 25, 1950 North
Korea invaded South Korea, and the United States committed forces under the flag
of the United Nations. Edwin's unit received orders to join U.S. forces in South
Korea where he was
killed in action on November 26, 1950.

Edwin was the son, and
the only child, of Mr. Alfons Gurecky, and Mrs. Annie (Marek) Gurecky. He was
born on March 2, 1931 in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas. He was an
accomplished accordionist. He was a member of the First Presbyterian
Church in Ennis, Texas.

On July 27, 1953 a cease
fire was signed ending hostilities between North and South Korea. It was almost
two years before Edwin's body was exhumed in Korea, and shipped to the U.S.
Naval Base at Sasebo on western Kyushu Island in Japan. He was shipped home on
April 18, 1955 reaching Keever Mortuary on May 6 accompanied by Master Sergeant B. P. Gunter.

On Sunday, May 8, at
3:00 p.m. a service was conducted for Edwin Gurecky at Keever Chapel by the Rev. Richmond
McKinney, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Ennis. Following the
service was reburial in
Myrtle Cemetery in Ennis with full military honors.

Edwin was posthumously
awarded the Purple Heart Medal. He is listed on the Memorial Monument to Ennis
War Dead and the Ellis
County Veterans Memorial.